A look at how we can combine, old, new and emerging marketing techniques and technologies. By incorporating marketing channels like Email, Social Media, NFC, Mobile, and others can be a perfect complement to any company marketing strategy.

Thursday, 19 July 2012

QR Codes have become very popular and are a great way to bridge a brands offline content with their online content. Everytime you open a magazine or a newspaper these days i guarantee you will find one in there somewhere. QR stands for Quick Response and a QR code can be encoded with a URL, a persons contact information, a link to like a brands Facebook page and much much more.

So if you don't know how a QR code works here is a little infographic to explain what to do when you see one next.

Monday, 16 July 2012

Not so long back we had the iPad app redesign and now LinkedIn is rolling out a new desktop homepage design to it's 160+ million users.

In a blog post released today by product manager Caroline Gaffney states that the redesign is a more modern design and is simpler and easier to navigate.
The news feed will be a continuous stream so no need for clicking see more or waiting for more updates to load when you reach the bottom of the page.
The top of the newsfeed will show relevant content such important updates and news articles recommended by LinkedIn for you.

The redesign also shows how many interactions there are to each update in the news feed such as how many liked and shared the post and how many comments it has generated.

It is less busy and does look easier to navigate but for how long? Caroline goes on to say "This is just the beginning of many more exciting, new features we plan to bring to the Homepage to offer more customisation and functionality this year.

Some are already saying that it is looking a lot like Facebook and Google+. Personally i think Facebook has become far too busy and i prefer the simplistic design to Google Plus and LinkedIn. What do you think of the new LinkedIn redesign? Let me know in the comments.

Sunday, 15 July 2012

You've created yourself a Facebook fan page so now what? The next thing is to encourage people to "Like" your fanpage and to be part of your Facebook community. The age old saying "build it and they will come" doesn't quite work these days unless your company is a well known brand. So below are 14 tips to help you get more likes and engagement on your company fanpage.

1. When you are starting out the easiest and best way to get some likes is by asking your friends and family to like and your page. This will help expand your reach because your friends friends will see that he/she liked your page and quite often their friends will follow suit and like your page.

2. If you have a website or blog make sure that you create and install the Facebook social plugin "Like Box", visitors can like your Facebook page without leaving your website or blog.

3. Run a competition or sweepstake, this can greatly increase engagement and likes. Make sure that the competition abides by Facebook's terms and conditions though. See part E about Promotions

4. If you're on LinkedIn (and if you have a business you should be) add your Facebook page as one of your 3 website links.

5. Be sure to add your page Facebook page URL to all of your outgoing email, include it in your signature.

6. Include your page URL to all your business paperwork such as letterheads, business cards, flyers etc.

7. Put a sign up in your business premises stating that you are on Facebook, make sure it can be easily seen by as many people as possible. The sign should include the Facebook logo which is easily identifiable and a few words such as "We are on Facebook like us on facebook.com/yourcompany".

8. Ensure that all your offline print advertising includes your Facebook page URL, because smartphone users can connect to your fanpage there and then.

9. Ask questions regularly, this can help you segment your fanbase further. For instance if you are a fast food restaurant the Facebook insights tool will not tell you which ones like pizza or which ones like burgers, so you could ask a question using the Facebook ask a question app. To ask a question simply click on the "Event, Milestone +" tab toward the top of your homepage and this will show you a drop down menu as image 1, select Question then type your question. You can either press post if you want random answers or you can select to add answers in a poll, just click on "Add Poll Options as image 2 and add your answers as in image 3. If you don't want others to add other answer options remember to unselect the tick box "Allow anyone to add options" as in image 3.

Facebook Questions - Image 1

Facebook Questions - Image 2

Facebook Questions - Image 3

10. When you post to your blog, post a link to it on your Facebook page too.

12. Upload a video explaining exactly what your Facebook fanpage is all about and what they can expect to receive in their news feed from you. Don't forget to mention that they have to like your fanpage first to get your information on their newsfeed.

13. Posting relevant and great content will keep fans interested and will encourage them to share and like your posts.

14. Include a like button and a link to your Facebook page in your weekly or monthly HTML newsletter.

These are simple and easy to implement and will help you gain more likes for your fanpage. Let me know in the comments if they work for you or if you have any other ideas so i can add them here.